Autumn was nine years old in February 2012, when her grandpa John began dialysis. Autumn was learning to sew, and when she showed her small rectangular pillow to John, he asked that she make one for him so that he could rest his arm during dialysis. When John started using the pillow, many patients at dialysis admired it. He told Autumn about the attention her pillow was receiving, and Autumn offered to make pillows for the other patients. With the support of her Grandparents, Autumn's Pillows of Love was born.
Requests for pillows started pouring in from friends and friends of friends. Pillows of Love became a family project; Autumn sewed, Grandpa stuffed, and Gramee hand-sewed the pillows closed. Autumn set goals to donate pillows to children and to people who were in pain. She wanted them to feel loved. It was then she would decide she wanted to become a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse.
Autumn’s mother received an e-mail telling her that Autumn was to be recognized during the New York Yankees' 2013 Hope Week. After sending over 90 pillows to New York City, Autumn, John, and family traveled to the city and gave pillows directly to sick children. While there, Autumn was surprised with meeting New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi and four Yankees players, who wanted to honor Autumn and her Pillows of Love project. Autumn spent the afternoon of July 9th, 2013, in the dugout during batting practice. She threw the first pitch of the game, and watched the rest of the game from front row seats with her family, on the third-base line.
The publicity from this event led Autumn and John to discover Environmental Composites. ECI supported Autumn's Pillows of Love project, and their generosity enabled the project to grow and continues to grow. Today, Autumn’s Pillows of Love has shared hope with more than 1,400 people.
At fourteen, Autumn is focused on her freshman year of high school and is working towards her career goal of becoming a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse. She remains an integral part of Pillows of Love.